1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to visual enhancement and detection and, more specifically, to a method for detecting and visually enhancing blood vessels and pulmonary emboli.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Medical imaging is the field of visualizing the internal structure of a patient subject using fields that are able to penetrate the body of the subject. Examples of common medical imaging techniques include traditional x-rays, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), ultrasound, positron emission tomography (PET), and the like.
While medical imaging techniques such as traditional x-rays provide a two-dimensional image, many modern medical imaging techniques, such as CT, provide a three-dimensional image by combining multiple two-dimensional image slices into a three-dimensional computer model that can be viewed from a wide variety of angles and depths.
By imaging the internal structure of the patient subject, injury, disease and congenital defect may be identified and treated. Traditionally, medical imaging techniques resulted in the display of a medical image, either on a film or on a computer display allowing a clinician such as a radiologist to examine the medical image to render a diagnosis.
However, it is possible for clinicians to miss small abnormalities in medical images and thus abnormalities may go unnoticed. Because diseases such as cancers are most treatable at early stages, early detection of abnormalities may be lead to reduced mortality and morbidity.
Moreover, proper review of medical images may take a long time. With the increased costs of medical care, the increased use of medical imagery, and the limited availability of qualified practitioners, it is becoming increasingly burdensome for qualified medical practitioners to properly review each and every medical image.
This problem is compounded by the added precision of modern medical imaging devices that are able to capture images at high resolutions and in three dimensions. The higher resolution means that the practitioner must more closely analyze each section of the medical image to determine if early signs of disease are visible from among the captured pixels. Moreover, three-dimensional medical images may require careful examination at many different levels of depth. In fact, as the pixel density of medical images increases due to higher resolution scans and more image slices, manually examining all of the collected data may be nearly impossible for a medical practitioner.